Mike Matheny vs. John Farrell: Who Needs a World Series Win More?

By Josh Sippie

Mike Matheny is in his second year as the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals while his counterpart John Farrell is a rookie manager for the Boston Red Sox. It goes without saying that both would love to add a World Series title to their resume this early into their careers.

That being said, it can also be seen as a pressure reliever. Given that they both are so new to their position, earning a World Series title would for all intents and purposes go beyond what was expected — or at least that would normally be the case.

Not so with the Red Sox and the Cardinals, two teams that enjoy success far too much to tolerate failure. Of course, making it to the World Series is a feat in and of itself. That being said, Matheny is on a much longer leash than Farrell. Matheny took a Cardinals club that no one expected anything out of to yet another World Series.

Essentially, there was not even any down time between future Hall-of-Fame manager Tony LaRussa and Matheny. He’s continuing right where they left off.

Boston is a much more fickle place to manage. They want success and they want it now. Bobby Valentine was given one year. That being the case, Farrell needs this win much more than Matheny does. He knew when he took the job that he had an incredibly short leash, and he’s thrived under the added pressure.

But second is not enough. He has to bring titles to Boston and he has to do it soon because the Red Sox faithful do not like to wait. It’s not like he’s going to be fired if he doesn’t procure a title this year, but it’s hard to imagine that the Red Sox front office would give him more than a few more years to get that first title. So, it would be much more to his benefit to get it out of the way early.